Moldova v Wales World Cup Qualifying Match – Group D Tuesday 5th September 2017 – Kick Off 7.45pm Venue: Venue: Zimbru Stadium, Chisinau, Republicof Moldova The Welsh defeat of Austria has blown this group wide open with Wales now on the tails of the Republic of Ireland in Group D. With the Irish hosting Serbia on Tuesday night, a Welsh victory in Moldova is essential in the pursuit of World Cup Football in Russia in 2018. Current Group D Table: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/41058486 Remaining Fixtures in Group D Tuesday 5th September Austria v Georgia Moldova v Wales Republic of Ireland v Serbia Friday 6th October Georgia v Wales Austria v Serbia Republic of Ireland v Moldova Monday 9th October Moldova v Austria Serbia v Georgia Wales v Republic of Ireland Where the**** is Moldova I here you ask? (and they probably ask the same about us) Sandwiched between Romania and Ukraine, Moldova emerged as an independent republic following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. It is one of the poorest countries in Europe, with its economy relying heavily on agriculture. Two-thirds of Moldovans are of Romanian descent. The languages are virtually identical and the two countries share a common cultural heritage. We have play Moldova on three occasions, winning two and losing one. Our first encounter ended in a 3-2 defeat in Moldova in 1995 and we won the return match 1-0 in September 1995. The next time we met was in this current qualifying group which we won 4-0 in Cardiff in September 2016. That was only after some spirited defending from Moldova and we can expect more of the same on Tuesday. Wales will be buoyed by the return of Joe Allen and we may see Ben Woodburn playing a greater role after producing an outstanding match winner on Saturday. The match will be played at the modest 10,400 capacity Zimbru Stadium in the Moldovan capital city of Chisinau, which has approximately half a million inhabitants.
A game where we are on paper the better team and favorites to win. It has the potential to be a banana skin if we think it will be easy and i would only make the odd change, I would play Joe if he is available but if not then the same team that finished the game against Austria minus 17 year old Woodburn, I would again use him if needed as a second half sub and keep him still learning what international football is all about because he had a dream start and we dont want it going to his head as he is only 17 years old after all. He needs to learn that he will be an obvious target now and i dont want him to get hurt with a serious injury because he is a bit green....He has a great international career in front of him and we should give him time to develope properly......Just my take on things....
Need to keep the momentum going from the huge win v Austria. Get a win and hope that ROI, at best, don't beat Serbia.
The win yesterday has me buzzing, I'll be happy with any win, but think we can win a bit more comfortably, maybe by 2 goals. I expect to be in 2nd position after this round of matches.
A big match for us tonight - but in another group. Belgium beat Greece 2-1 which reduces the number of points Greece get as likely runners up in their Group. Not all group runners up qualify for the World Cup - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2018_FIFA_World_Cup_qualification There are 9 Groups in the European section. The eight best runners up qualify to play in a two match play-off. One team misses out. The four play off winners qualify for the World Cup along with the Group Winners. The current points total for the runners up in each Group is as follows: 21 – Group B 16 – Group A, Group C, Group G 15 – Group F 14 - Group H, Group I 13 – Group D, Group E Wales currently lie in third position in Group D with 11 points. So not only do we have to force our way into second spot - we have to have more points than a team in another Group!
It's weirder than that. They discount all points taken from the bottom team. Potentially it doesn't really matter if we draw with Moldova as long as we still finish second and Moldova remain bottom. Best for us would be to win all remaining games and hope Georgia finish bottom (so we could get the 6 points won off Moldova rather than the 4 from Georgia).
A win, regardless of performance is what's important. A win with a few goals and a good display is a bonus. It's all about the 3 points tonight. 2-0 win
